at the mercy of others

All throughout our lives we really are at the mercy of others. No kidding and no exaggeration here. From the time we are conceived until the time we die, we are not only dependent upon other humans but we are too often at their mercy.

Currently, we are having to fight with some car dealership employees over their failure to comply with their sales agreement with us. Without boring you with the specifics, we can simply say that they were happy to take our money for a car, but have not done the various things required of them. This has required us to follow-up with them repeatedly to try to get them to honor their commitments.

Needless to say, such inconvenience seems to us as unnecessary and for that reason alone it is irritating. Daily life is challenging enough without having to make extra efforts because others are not acting conscientiously or responsibly or honestly. There are times, when a person has to become a little mean, a little combative in order to motivate the other party to simply comply with what is required of them.

One may wonder: Why is it so much to expect or to ask that people – who are happy to collect their pay checks each and every payday – just do their jobs? Over the course of many years, we have encountered this poor attitude several times on the part of people who deal with paying customers (and not just with car dealership employees). Having worked in customer service related positions myself at times during my career, poor attitudes and poor customer service strike a nerve with me.

A word of suggestion for readers: Do not be too hasty in replying to customer satisfaction surveys when these are mailed (or emailed) to you. Take your time in responding to see if the other party has earned a good review by doing all that is required of them.

(I lost count of how many times when I was working on a contract basis that I was brought in to clean up someone else’s mess. Yes, I received financial compensation for my time and efforts, but what an eye opener to see that more than a few persons did not care to try to do competent and conscientious work for their employers, co-workers and customers. In some cases, the problem seems to have been that the wrong (unqualified, malcontent, etc.) person had been placed in the job; in other instances, the supervisors of such employees had apparently “been out to lunch” so to speak and did not provide proper oversight.)

Of course, there are much more serious examples of being at the mercy of others where the consequences (inconvenience) can be fatal. Examples are when criminals or terrorists choose to commit violent, murderous acts, and when governments decide to go to war and how they choose to conduct their wars. As well, politicians, judges and nameless career bureaucrats can and do take our rights away incrementally over time, or in large power grabs. Failed government policies and programs squander and waste our nation’s resources.

Sadly for the good, decent, conscientious people of the world, we are in the age of quarrel, and discord and spiritual ignorance (called the Kali Yuga by Hindus). Good people suffer at the hands of others who are miserable and wretched and spiritually blind. It is not fair, but it is the reality.

If we were in a better age, a “golden age” if you will, we would not speak of being at the mercy of others as there would be universal harmony and not near universal discord among human beings.

Just a few thoughts for a hot, late September day near the ocean in San Francisco.